Monday, May 24

Love the colours in this one....papers are by Shabby Green Door.....spritzed my background with watery blue paint. Anyone know how to stop your page from buckling as it dries???

And zoomed in....

A fave shot of the girls just before we left the house to go get Santa photos last December.....used more scrummy Paper Dolls by Crate Paper along with some velvet ribbon by MM, a cute Autumn Leaves butterfly stamp, Green Tara blossoms and some Kindyglitz....

Closer....

Mimi amazed us all last Christmas by suddenly announcing she would like her training wheels taken off her bike. She was adamant nobody helped her....and after a few attempts she was off and away! Love this layout of her.....check her totally adorable playsuit!

Crate Paper 'Paper Dolls' yet again (man that chipboard sticker sheet goes a long way)...the pink dot is an old Daisy Bucket, some Basic Grey Lily Kate and some touches of yellow helped by a My Little Shoebox birdy and a couple of ribbon/pp strips for the sun....

The loopy edge on the Lily Kate strip was acheived using this little gem of a tool.....

You can get yours here but only if you're quick......lots of stores have sold out and they are no longer available!

Had a wonderful few hours just sitting and playing/cuddling/smooching/laughing with the pups.....now 2 and half weeks old, eyes open, toddling around on wobbly legs a little like praying mantises......nothing sweeter than short puppy whiskers tickling your face and that funny squeaky noise they make.....

Friday, May 21

I've been shopping! Madeit.com is officially my new favourite store. Soooooo many treasures to drool over and so many terribly clever people out there making them for us.

I've just ordered two of these cuties for both little girls - are they not the funnest microwaveable heat packs you ever did see? Just the thing to cuddle up to during chilly Inverell nights I say. Nearly got one for Kate too - but sadly, at 10 and a half, "cool" is more important than "cute" if you know what I mean!

Have a new layout to share with you......used the latest sketch from Pencil Lines for this one, as well as Leann's chipboard sun.....

Saturday, May 15

The first recipe is really quick and easy and great for my diet......the second one - not so much....

Tuna Chilli Pasta

packet thin spaghetti

2 x 185g cans tuna in oil

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

1/3 cup dry white wine

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cook pasta until tender, drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the liquid

Drain tuna, reserving 2 tablespoons of the oil.

Heat the oil in frying pan, add garlic and cook until fragrant.

Add chilli and wine....cook uncovered until wine almost evaporated.

(Watch out - we got flames when we added the wine!!!)

Add tomatoes (undrained), tuna and reserved pasta water.

Simmer until reduced slightly. Stir through lemon juice.

Toss through pasta in a big old bowl.

Get a little bit fancy and garnish with fresh parsley and a wedge of lemon!

Bread & Butter Pudding (with Dates)

50g butter or marg, or thereabouts

12 slices white bread

50g dates, chopped

(or sultanas or dried apricots would be nice too)

6 eggs

3/4 cup caster sugar

300ml thickened cream

300ml milk

1 vanilla pod, split, seeds scraped

Lightly butter a 2lt baking dish.

Butter the bread, cut off the crusts, then cut each slice into 2 triangles.

Arrange in layers in the dish, sprinkling with chopped dates between the layers, but none on the top.

Whisk together eggs and sugar in a big jug.

Heat cream, milk and vanilla pods in saucepan until almost boiling.

Strain out the pods and quickly whisk hot liquid into the egg mixture to combine.

Pour carefully over the bread slices.

Sit for at least 30 minutes before baking (for a lovely light texture - not stodgy)

then bake for 30 mins in 180 oven in a large roasting pan which has been filled with boiling water halfway up the sides of the baking dish.

Mmm mmm mmmmm.

The last of my holiday snaps to share - all from Eyre Peninsula SA:

Our tent site at Port Lincoln - right on the water. We would sit and watch the big fishing boats coming and going out to sea.....just a magic spot!

The tuna farm tour at Port Lincoln was awesome.....amazing majestic creatures - and solid! These ones were around 50 - 80 kgs - but they can grow to 300 and fetch up to $50,000 PER FISH in Japan. Was scary enough feeding the little 50kg ones - note the use of tongs to preserve ones fingers....!!!

The gorgeous scenery around Elliston along the Great Aussie Bight....spectacular - and the colour of the water! These photos don't do it justice.

The section near Elliston has lots of intriguing sculptures all along the clifftops....

One of the things Streaky Bay is famous for is this massive shark that was caught there.....world record for the biggest shark caught by rod and reel....can you believe it?!? The guy was only 19 at the time and it took him umpteen hours to land it.....I have to ask.....why would you do that???

Kate, Bessie and Mia posed with the lifesize model at the Info Centre....

Sunday, May 9

......to my darling Mum and to all mother's everywhere.....hope your day has been as perfect and sweet as mine.

I was woken from a lovely slumber by the excited giggling and smiling faces of 3 little girls laden with pressies.....

...and touching cards....like this one from Bethy......

....which made me cry!

And funny little Promise Books from Mia and Beth....containing the most adorable statements I ever saw....

After lots of cuddles and a nice lay-in to read my Julie cookbook from cover to cover (have been desperately hanging out for it since the Masterchef finals when she described to the judges her cookbook vision and I knew right then that I wanted it on my shelf).....Tim and Kate disappeared to make me the most delicious brekky.....poached egg, smoked salmon and spinach on an english muffin.....a little bit posh!

Then it was outside to wish another mum a happy mother's day.....

....and get our daily dose of puppy love....

In the arvo we all piled in the Jackaroo for a drive around the property.....